Emma Navarro Survives First-Match Jitters On Her Dad's Court
Yesterday at 08:13 AM
:BY JAMES BECK
Emma Navarro was back home Wednesday, showing why she is now ranked 11th in the world. She played well, but maybe not quite what it will take to be around when they hand out the trophies.
But she was playing under quite a bit of pressure, before a big crowd at her Dad's impressive facility at Daniel Island, S.C., in the Credit One Charleston Open.
And it was on the green clay for the first time in quite a while. Perhaps, Navarro was lucky to walk off with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over unseeded Hailey Baptiste, a hard-hitting 23-year-old Washington, D.C., product.
WIN UNDER BELT FEELS GOOD
Even though Baptiste isn't rated highly, just 90th, she has huge ground strokes. The only trouble is she can't consistently keep enough of those type shots on the court to run up the rankings.
"It feels good to get a win under my belt here in Charleston," Navarro said. "First rounds (or first matches in this case) are never easy, and especially playing in your hometown you want to do as well as you can in front of the fans and family and friends.
"So, I definitely felt a little bit of pressure today."
Baptiste appeared to have Navarro a little on an untied rope when she took Navarro's serve to love-40 in the ninth game of the second set. But then Navarro obviously took the situation very seriously and won the next five points with the aid of a pair of backhand drop shots to close out the midday match.
THINGS COULD GET TOUGH IN ROUND OF 16
Things could get a little tougher for Navarro in the round of 16 against 15th seed Ashlyn Krueger, a 20-year-old American who has been ranked as high as No. 34.
Navarro admitted that her opponents are now trying to hit her off the court with powerful shots, such as Baptiste attempted.
"People are hitting really hard at me, so feeling like (I'm) strong enough to push back against that is really important to me," Navarro said.
THE TOP EIGHT SEEDS ARE ALL ALIVE
The round of 16 on Thursday could get interesting for players and fans alike when the top eight seeds No. 1 Jessica Pegula, No. 2 Madison Key, No. 3 Qinwen Zheng , No. 4 Navarro, No. 5 Daria Kasatkina, No. 6 Diana Shnaider, No. 7 Danielle Collins and No. 8 Amanda Anisimova are all scheduled to play in either the Credit One Stadium or on the Althea Gibson Club Court.
Thursday should be an exciting day for the fans, and possibly a difficult one for the players. Anything could be possible.
James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at [email protected]
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